Terri Arain: Candidate Profile

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Note: Answers provided have not been edited for grammar, misspellings or typos. In some instances, candidate claims that could not be immediately verified have been omitted. Jump to:BioQA Bio City: Oak BrookWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Twitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Butler District 53 School Board Age: 44Family: Husband: Adnan Arain4 Female Children:Rania Arain age 12Sofia Arain age 10Jaida Arain age 7Laila Arain age 6Occupation: EducatorEducation: 3 Bachelors degrees:*Double major in Business Management and Theatre Arts from University of Mount Union*Advertising major from Michigan State UniversityMasters in Education (Teaching, Learning and Assessment) from National Louis UniversityCivic involvement: I am a team player that strives to be a source of solution and not just a beneficiary of change. 5 years teaching in Sunday school, 3 years as the Sunday school Principal, 1 year as an Assistant Principal in private school, and a summer as an Adjust Professor at COD. During this time, I brought SEL components to my students through the production of Arts-based Interfaith events, service projects and character building through the Arts. As well as, implementation of the already established AuthenticMe program for 4th and 5th grade girls that focuses on confidence and self-awareness.Elected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Questions Answers Why are you running for this office, whether for re-election or election the first time? Is there a particular issue that motivates you, and if so, what is it?Candidate did not respond.What do you think about the process for measuring student success in your district? Is it adequate? What changes, if any, do you propose?Candidate did not respond.How big a role do you think the board of education should play in setting the curriculum for students and what ideas do you have for changes to the current curriculum?Candidate did not respond.What budget issues will your district have to confront and what measures do you support to address them? If you believe cuts are necessary, what programs and expenses should be reduced or eliminated? On the income side, do you support any tax or fee increases?Even though there are yearly conversations about reallocating special education dollars to general state aid for schools, it never happens. However, this would be detrimental to District 53 in that we do not have money just laying around. District 53 is diligent in allocation of funds to the proper line items. Special Education is federally mandated so we would have to replenish our savings for these students anyway. It makes no sense. This school district has amazing special education services and I cannot see that program becoming underfunded. Instead, I purpose conversation and collaboration. What are each of our school districts doing that is working better than others? Who is getting it right and how? Teamwork will be the key to the success of our Illinois schools. Do not underestimate the power of collaboration.What role can and should school choice play in your district? If Congress or the state approves a voucher system or other means giving students broader choices among public and private schools, how will that affect your district? What is the appropriate response for the board of education of a public school system?This would be very detrimental to the success of our students. We have smaller class sizes which are full at this point in time. That is one of the special characteristic or the Butler 53 schools. More students means less personal instructional time, means lower success ratings for our students. Many families only move to Oak Brook for this particular reason.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?My concern, as a candidate, is to focus on all of the children that are in my school district. It is what is best for them collectively as well as individually.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Barack ObamaWhat is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Treat others as you would want to be treated.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I would have found a way to attend AMDA in New York after my acceptance.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Theatre because it opened me up to the understanding that there is more to this world than what you see before you in everyday life.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Follow your dreams by studying hard and learning everything that you can in every moment of your life. God gave you gifts don't waste them.